How do I install the Alpaca skill?

Run npx skillmds add starchild-ai-agent/alpaca in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Alpaca safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. Capability flags: executes scripts, makes network calls, reads secrets. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Alpaca?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Alpaca free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Alpaca?

starchild-ai-agent (@starchild-ai-agent) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Alpaca by starchild-ai-agent — Agent Skill

Name: Alpaca
Rating: 4.2 (5 reviews)
Author: starchild-ai-agent

Alpaca

Alpaca brokerage — US stocks & ETFs. Account, positions, orders, quotes, history, and order placement (paper + live). Use when the user wants to check or trade a US-stock account on Alpaca (e.g. "Alpaca buying power", "buy 1 AAPL on Alpaca paper", "my Alpaca positions"). Cloud API, runs directly in the container.

starchild-ai-agent 4a49ab6 4 files · 33.3 KB Updated Sep 9, 2026

File contents

What this is

☁️ Cloud broker — Alpaca exposes a public REST API, so this runs directly in the Starchild container, no local gateway needed. US equities and ETFs.

Paper and live are fully separated: different key pairs, different hosts (paper-api.alpaca.markets vs api.alpaca.markets). A paper key physically cannot touch the live account. Live order placement additionally requires the --confirm-live flag.

Get your API keys

Sign up at alpaca.markets (US brokerage; paper trading is free and needs no funding).
Paper keys: log in → switch to Paper Trading (toggle top-left) → Home → "API Keys" panel → Generate New Keys. Copy the Key ID and Secret Key (secret shown once).
Live keys (optional, real money): switch to Live Trading → same API Keys panel → generate. These are a different pair from paper.
Market data: the free IEX feed works out of the box. SIP (full-market) needs a paid data subscription.

Configure (.env)

Request via secure input — never paste keys in chat. Variables:

Variable	Required	Notes
`ALPACA_API_KEY`	yes (paper)	paper Key ID
`ALPACA_SECRET_KEY`	yes (paper)	paper Secret
`ALPACA_LIVE_API_KEY`	only for live	live Key ID
`ALPACA_LIVE_SECRET_KEY`	only for live	live Secret
`ALPACA_FEED`	no	`iex` (default) or `sip`

Usage

pip install alpaca-py (first run). All commands print JSON. Default profile is paper.

python skills/alpaca/scripts/alpaca_cli.py status
python skills/alpaca/scripts/alpaca_cli.py account
python skills/alpaca/scripts/alpaca_cli.py positions
python skills/alpaca/scripts/alpaca_cli.py orders [--executions]
python skills/alpaca/scripts/alpaca_cli.py quote --symbol AAPL
python skills/alpaca/scripts/alpaca_cli.py history --symbol AAPL --period 1d --limit 90
# place (paper): qty OR notional, market OR limit
python skills/alpaca/scripts/alpaca_cli.py place --symbol AAPL --side buy --qty 1 --type market
python skills/alpaca/scripts/alpaca_cli.py place --symbol AAPL --side buy --notional 500 --type limit --limit-price 180
python skills/alpaca/scripts/alpaca_cli.py cancel --order-id <id>
# live: must add --profile live AND --confirm-live
python skills/alpaca/scripts/alpaca_cli.py --profile live --confirm-live place --symbol AAPL --side buy --qty 1

Periods: 1m 5m 15m 30m 1h 1d 1w 1M. Alpaca supports fractional --notional (dollar amount) orders.

Gotchas

status is the health check — it reports SDK install state, key presence, and pings the account. Run it first.
Free IEX data can be sparse/delayed off-hours; use sip only if the account has the paid feed.
Live trading is real money. The --confirm-live gate is intentional; never auto-add it.

---name: alpacadescription: Alpaca brokerage — US stocks & ETFs. Account, positions, orders, quotes, history, and order placement (paper + live). Use when the user wants to check or trade a US-stock account on Alpaca (e.g. "Alpaca buying power", "buy 1 AAPL on Alpaca paper", "my Alpaca positions"). Cloud API, runs directly in the container.--- ## What this is ☁️ **Cloud broker** — Alpaca exposes a public REST API, so this runs **directly in the Starchild container**, no local gateway needed. US equities and ETFs. Paper and live are fully separated: **different key pairs, different hosts** (`paper-api.alpaca.markets` vs `api.alpaca.markets`). A paper key physically cannot touch the live account. Live order placement additionally requires the `--confirm-live` flag. ## Get your API keys 1. Sign up at [alpaca.markets](https://alpaca.markets) (US brokerage; paper trading is free and needs no funding). 2. **Paper keys:** log in → switch to **Paper Trading** (toggle top-left) → **Home** → "API Keys" panel → **Generate New Keys**. Copy the **Key ID** and **Secret Key** (secret shown once). 3. **Live keys (optional, real money):** switch to **Live Trading** → same API Keys panel → generate. These are a *different* pair from paper. 4. Market data: the free **IEX** feed works out of the box. **SIP** (full-market) needs a paid data subscription. ## Configure (.env) Request via secure input — never paste keys in chat. Variables: | Variable | Required | Notes | |---|---|---| | `ALPACA_API_KEY` | yes (paper) | paper Key ID | | `ALPACA_SECRET_KEY` | yes (paper) | paper Secret | | `ALPACA_LIVE_API_KEY` | only for live | live Key ID | | `ALPACA_LIVE_SECRET_KEY` | only for live | live Secret | | `ALPACA_FEED` | no | `iex` (default) or `sip` | ## Usage `pip install alpaca-py` (first run). All commands print JSON. Default profile is `paper`. ```bash python skills/alpaca/scripts/alpaca_cli.py status python skills/alpaca/scripts/alpaca_cli.py account python skills/alpaca/scripts/alpaca_cli.py positions python skills/alpaca/scripts/alpaca_cli.py orders [--executions] python skills/alpaca/scripts/alpaca_cli.py quote --symbol AAPL python skills/alpaca/scripts/alpaca_cli.py history --symbol AAPL --period 1d --limit 90 # place (paper): qty OR notional, market OR limit python skills/alpaca/scripts/alpaca_cli.py place --symbol AAPL --side buy --qty 1 --type market python skills/alpaca/scripts/alpaca_cli.py place --symbol AAPL --side buy --notional 500 --type limit --limit-price 180 python skills/alpaca/scripts/alpaca_cli.py cancel --order-id <id> # live: must add --profile live AND --confirm-live python skills/alpaca/scripts/alpaca_cli.py --profile live --confirm-live place --symbol AAPL --side buy --qty 1 ``` Periods: `1m 5m 15m 30m 1h 1d 1w 1M`. Alpaca supports fractional `--notional` (dollar amount) orders. ## Gotchas - `status` is the health check — it reports SDK install state, key presence, and pings the account. Run it first. - Free IEX data can be sparse/delayed off-hours; use `sip` only if the account has the paid feed. - Live trading is real money. The `--confirm-live` gate is intentional; never auto-add it.

Frequently asked questions